What’s in a Name?

You don’t have to look very far (inside the ’net, or outside of it) to find conflicting arguments for what to call “Him”.

Him? No, not the one God. While He is known variously as God, Yahweh, YHWH, (with vowels, or without vowels), Jehovah, and more. His existence, is beyond our comprehension, and because of this, He is really only known to us by one distinct personality, the Father. Therefore, for the purposes of this website, we refer to Him either as the Father, or as God.

This isn’t the case with His Son. The Son has come to be known by many names. Jesus is the most common English rendering of His name, even though His original Hebrew name more closely translates into English as Joshua. (Joshua, as a replacement for the name Jesus, seems unlikely to catch on.) Various websites point out that the “J” sound only entered into pronunciation as a hard “J” around 500 years ago. Prior to that time, the letter “J” was actually pronounced with a “Y” sound. (This is, in part, how God’s name went from YHWH to Jehovah.)

It seems that the Hebrew name (which translates into English as Joshua), is variously represented by Yeshua, Yashua, Yahushua, Yahshua, Y’Shua, … (not to mention the other names which are disputed, as well, including Emmanuel, Messiah, etc.) Among the websites on the ’net where people have discussed the various appellations for the Christ (and even the name “Christ” is questioned by some), it seems that they fall into two schools of thought. Those who insist that the name Jesus is the only acceptable name to use in referring to Him, and those who insist that the name Jesus is completely unacceptable, insisting that some form of His Aramaic name must be the correct name for Him.

At A New Christianity.org, we find that both schools of thought are incorrect. There are two reasons for this. First, God knows us so well, that He even knows the exact count of the strands of hair on our head (both before and after we have showered). He knows us so well, that He even knows exactly what we are thinking all of the time. This would obviously include knowing when we are referring to Him in our words and thoughts, and whether we were doing so with reverence or not. The same must be true for God’s Son.

Second, as we have stated in the article, A Logical Relationship, we have been given the spiritual gift of reasoning. One of the responsibilities of having this gift, is that we must look at these names for the Son, the cases for using each of them, and then make our own determination about what to call Him, for ourselves. This means determining for yourself, whether to call Him Jesus, or Yeshua, or Yahushuah.

In writing for this website, I (Paul) have called Him both Jesus, and Yeshua. I have used the name Jesus, in two articles. The first article was “Passionately Avoiding the Movie ”. This was a piece that I had written prior to the start of the website (ANewChristianity.org) and I sought to maintain the historical character of the piece by not changing His name. The other usage of the specific name “Jesus ” was in What is Sin? (Part 3), in this line:

Luther refers to his new interpretation of Paul's writings, as a “change of heart ”. This idea, that we need to “change our hearts ”, has been interpreted by many people, to mean that we are only saved, by faith; that it is simply enough to “believe that Jesus died for your sins ”, and this belief will assure you eternal life.

I used the name Jesus here, because to me, it reflects the church’s short sighted doctrine, which centers primarily on sin. When I think about the name Jesus, I get a picture in my mind of some “tel-evangelist” standing there, proclaiming that “JEEEEEEEESSSSUUUUUUUSSSSS Christ will punish the sinners by casting them into the fire.” I find this offensive, both in its over-dramatics, as well as in the false doctrine.

So I, (Paul), have chosen to refer to the Son as Yeshua. When I do so, I am certain that He knows that I am referring to Him, and that I am doing so with all reverence.